Please enable javascript to view this site !

Judiciaire - Online music seller made millions with fake CDs - News

Michael Hargreaves made an estimated $2 million selling counterfeit CDs

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One of the top online sellers of music CDs turned out to be laundering money from proceeds he made from a counterfeit operation, according to federal investigators.

The investigation into Michael Hargreaves began in August 2014 when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations learned that Hargreaves was running an online business that was selling and distributing counterfeit music CDs.

The 60-year-old suspect was living in the United Kingdom when HSI learned about the investigation, according Brian Widener, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of HSI in Oregon.

“For us, this is a priority area,” Widener said about counterfeit investigation. “Following the money is one of the reasons why we got involved.”

Initially, agents didn’t know Hargreaves’ true identity. Widener said Hargreaves was using the name “Martin Donald” as an alias to run the online store “Media Mine U.S.”

It was the Recording Industry Association of America that first discovered anomalies with Hargreaves’ online business. Using Amazon.com as a host site, agents determined “Media Mine U.S.” was advertising authentic CDs, but “high quality” counterfeit CDs were being sent to unsuspecting customers.